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kerpingtack) wrote2010-11-07 12:43 pm
kerpingtack) wrote2010-11-07 12:43 pm
Entry tags:
pazz and jock
My SNSD post is taking forever and I am impatient. LET ME TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS VIDEO
1. It really shows the... existence of their musical talent, which is something that usually falls by the wayside. Seohyun on the piano, Tiffany sounding amaaaazing, and Sunny rocking her first "rock" line.
2. And just musically, I love the jazz/rock versions of Gee.
3. They get to sing lower than they normally do. You can really see how most of their songs are higher than their natural ranges, which is urgh.
4. They're having so much fun and the energy and togetherness of them on-stage, with Tiffany calling out names ("Sunny!" <33), them high fiving in the background and holding out the mic to the crowd and everything. <3___<3
5. People love them. They're so beloved. I love seeing the audience at these things because they're either freaking out or *____*ing, and I love it especially when they concentrate on the girls in the audience.
With kpop I'm always thinking, "Why do I love this?" Not in a sarcastic way, but because so much of kpop is like instant id-stroking reactions, just really visceral: I LOVE THIS. THIS PLEASES ME GREATLY. SMILING REALLY REALLY BIG AT THE SCREEN WITHOUT NOTICING. And I really don't NOTICE until I realize I've bookmarked like 5000 videos in the past three hours and watched like twenty performances of the same damn song.
My favorite parts of SNSD performances are the absolute unity and synchronization and when they get to interact with one another. I don't think any other group in kpop (OR THE ENTIRE WORLD *crazy*) are as close as these girls are. kpop's manufactured to make all the idols seem supertight and bff and like a family, but I really believe it of them. I really do think that they love each other as much as they seem to. Like, I have no reservations. You can see that in their performances. It's hard enough to synchronize like five people; there are NINE of them, and they're not just staying in one spot. I love love love seeing the formation changes and them switching out the center. (I am fucking fascinated with Tell Me Your Wish (Genie) for this. They move around so much, forming and re-forming different lines. I like the Hoot choreography in terms of this too, the different groups of three and whatnot.) They're fucking seamless at that shit, and they do it without even looking. There's no way to be that in-tune with one another without being close in some way. I love that part in Tell Me Your Wish (Genie) where they all turn around and high five one another, and I love when things officially get added into the choreography because the girls just like playing around with each other, like Sunny and Taeyeon making faces at each other during Oh! or uh a bunch of different things in Tell Me Your Wish. This is also why the Gee/Way to Go! videos are fun to watch and the original Tell Me Your Wish video is creepy and weird.
SNSD is my favorite anything out of kpop. I know there are a lot of problematic issues around them, like how they're marketed and the general sexual objectification, but I'm really so touched by how much people love them. I'm not pretending that a large part of it isn't sexual, and they're popular largely because they pretty much epitomize the stereotypic ideals for beauty and do not challenge the existing order at all, but even though it speaks to how effective the fucked-up marketing and gender policing are, even so, I love seeing the audience and hearing them cheer and go nuts. I love seeing girls being fans. I don't know how to express this well. There is just so much LOVE for them.
And what is there not to love? For the flaws of kpop's personality... commodification? and the dangers of feeling like you REALLY know these people, I am ridiculously grateful for it in terms of SNSD because they are SO charming and so funny and so witty and so much fun. And this is why I can't be that cynical, "oh they're only popular because they're thin and wank-material," because it's obvious that people love them for them (or the closest approximation of them they can get from TV, anyway). BECAUSE THEY ARE THE BEST AND I LOVE THEM.
For a more general point about pop music: Obviously, the point for fans is execution, not the content because pop stars can't be held accountable for what they sing, especially not in kpop when the companies have so much control. In the west this has a strong negative connotation for emptiness or inauthenticity, so that was something I personally had to... overcome? Maybe just adjust to. I "matured" in the late 1990s/early 2000s, and I was not mainstream at all, so I pretty much accepted a lot of backlash against the whole boy band/Britney Spears boom. This is weirdly negotiated in kpop because the idols work SO FUCKING HARD, like literally training their entire lives and working all day every day, and the industry makes a point in highlighting this fact as a virtue. Plus the reality/variety show circuit kind of mitigates the "fakeness" too, I think. (Like I said, these shows aren't just interviews, they are RIDICULOUS and it's hard to not come across as genuine with the shit they make you do all the time.) I hear this a lot from non-Korean/international fans, "Korean celebrities are so real and genuine."
But yeah, the execution thing. The focus is on how well they're just able to do things. I have nothing to add to this, I was just thinking about it. We want them to be good, to look great and sound great and move great, and it's such a thrill when they do. I'm thinking of me screaming my head off during the Hoot music video. Although there's the danger of buying into the commodification too much. hmm hmm hmm
1. It really shows the... existence of their musical talent, which is something that usually falls by the wayside. Seohyun on the piano, Tiffany sounding amaaaazing, and Sunny rocking her first "rock" line.
2. And just musically, I love the jazz/rock versions of Gee.
3. They get to sing lower than they normally do. You can really see how most of their songs are higher than their natural ranges, which is urgh.
4. They're having so much fun and the energy and togetherness of them on-stage, with Tiffany calling out names ("Sunny!" <33), them high fiving in the background and holding out the mic to the crowd and everything. <3___<3
5. People love them. They're so beloved. I love seeing the audience at these things because they're either freaking out or *____*ing, and I love it especially when they concentrate on the girls in the audience.
With kpop I'm always thinking, "Why do I love this?" Not in a sarcastic way, but because so much of kpop is like instant id-stroking reactions, just really visceral: I LOVE THIS. THIS PLEASES ME GREATLY. SMILING REALLY REALLY BIG AT THE SCREEN WITHOUT NOTICING. And I really don't NOTICE until I realize I've bookmarked like 5000 videos in the past three hours and watched like twenty performances of the same damn song.
My favorite parts of SNSD performances are the absolute unity and synchronization and when they get to interact with one another. I don't think any other group in kpop (OR THE ENTIRE WORLD *crazy*) are as close as these girls are. kpop's manufactured to make all the idols seem supertight and bff and like a family, but I really believe it of them. I really do think that they love each other as much as they seem to. Like, I have no reservations. You can see that in their performances. It's hard enough to synchronize like five people; there are NINE of them, and they're not just staying in one spot. I love love love seeing the formation changes and them switching out the center. (I am fucking fascinated with Tell Me Your Wish (Genie) for this. They move around so much, forming and re-forming different lines. I like the Hoot choreography in terms of this too, the different groups of three and whatnot.) They're fucking seamless at that shit, and they do it without even looking. There's no way to be that in-tune with one another without being close in some way. I love that part in Tell Me Your Wish (Genie) where they all turn around and high five one another, and I love when things officially get added into the choreography because the girls just like playing around with each other, like Sunny and Taeyeon making faces at each other during Oh! or uh a bunch of different things in Tell Me Your Wish. This is also why the Gee/Way to Go! videos are fun to watch and the original Tell Me Your Wish video is creepy and weird.
SNSD is my favorite anything out of kpop. I know there are a lot of problematic issues around them, like how they're marketed and the general sexual objectification, but I'm really so touched by how much people love them. I'm not pretending that a large part of it isn't sexual, and they're popular largely because they pretty much epitomize the stereotypic ideals for beauty and do not challenge the existing order at all, but even though it speaks to how effective the fucked-up marketing and gender policing are, even so, I love seeing the audience and hearing them cheer and go nuts. I love seeing girls being fans. I don't know how to express this well. There is just so much LOVE for them.
And what is there not to love? For the flaws of kpop's personality... commodification? and the dangers of feeling like you REALLY know these people, I am ridiculously grateful for it in terms of SNSD because they are SO charming and so funny and so witty and so much fun. And this is why I can't be that cynical, "oh they're only popular because they're thin and wank-material," because it's obvious that people love them for them (or the closest approximation of them they can get from TV, anyway). BECAUSE THEY ARE THE BEST AND I LOVE THEM.
For a more general point about pop music: Obviously, the point for fans is execution, not the content because pop stars can't be held accountable for what they sing, especially not in kpop when the companies have so much control. In the west this has a strong negative connotation for emptiness or inauthenticity, so that was something I personally had to... overcome? Maybe just adjust to. I "matured" in the late 1990s/early 2000s, and I was not mainstream at all, so I pretty much accepted a lot of backlash against the whole boy band/Britney Spears boom. This is weirdly negotiated in kpop because the idols work SO FUCKING HARD, like literally training their entire lives and working all day every day, and the industry makes a point in highlighting this fact as a virtue. Plus the reality/variety show circuit kind of mitigates the "fakeness" too, I think. (Like I said, these shows aren't just interviews, they are RIDICULOUS and it's hard to not come across as genuine with the shit they make you do all the time.) I hear this a lot from non-Korean/international fans, "Korean celebrities are so real and genuine."
But yeah, the execution thing. The focus is on how well they're just able to do things. I have nothing to add to this, I was just thinking about it. We want them to be good, to look great and sound great and move great, and it's such a thrill when they do. I'm thinking of me screaming my head off during the Hoot music video. Although there's the danger of buying into the commodification too much. hmm hmm hmm